Q: I have been having irregular periods for the past 4 years. I had
my tubes tied 7 years ago. I have gone to my Doctor who ran tests for many different
things; all were fine. I was put on birth control to help regulate my
periods. It was working up until a couple of months ago. I bled
for a whole month while on the pill. They took me off of the pill and
I am right back to having irregular periods again. They say I am too young to
be going through menopause (29). When they started me on the birth control
pills, they mentioned that if the pills didn't work that the only other option
was having a hysterectomy. If they can't find anything wrong why would they
mention a hysterectomy? Where does this leave me!

Dr. Donnica: I can see why this situation would leave you confused and frustrated!
Let me reassure you that you probably have many other options besides a hysterectomy.
A hysterectomy is only indicated for a specific diagnosis, not because we can't
figure out what the problem is. There are many types of menstrual irregularities;
you didn't specify what your pattern is. But bleeding can be irregular both
in volume and frequency (too often or too far apart). While there is no
such thing as being "too young to be going through menopause", it does
not sound like your symptoms are consistent with it. If the bleeding was
light while you were on the pill, it could have been what we call "breakthrough
bleeding". So long as all your tests were normal, the solution might
be trying a higher dosage or different formulation of birth control pill.
Another solution might be to have you take the Pill continuously for 3 months
without having a period at all! . This will cause your endometrium (the
lining of the womb) to shrink considerably and should cause the bleeding to stop
or be significantly reduced. I recommend that you revisit your gynecologist-or
another one--to discuss this further.